JP2002361880A - Inkjet recorder - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an inkjet recorder wherein a space for a recovering means is reduced, a size of a device is reduced, a cleaning performance of a blade is improved, a flaw on a nozzle face is eliminated, and the printing quality is improved. SOLUTION: This inkjet recorder has a blade for cleaning a nozzle face of an inkjet head that ejects ink housed in an ink passage from the nozzle by varying the volume of the ink passage. The blade is provided in a cap of the recovering means for sucking the ink in the inkjet recorder.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an ink jet recording apparatus having a blade for cleaning a nozzle surface of an ink jet head for discharging ink.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there has been known an ink jet recording apparatus which records characters and images on a recording medium using a recording head which discharges ink from a plurality of nozzles. Ink-jet devices are based on the difference in the ink droplet ejection method.
It can be divided into a continuous type device that constantly discharges ink and an on-demand type device that discharges ink droplets as needed. The on-demand type apparatus has the advantages that the configuration is relatively simple and that the ink ejection energy is small.

[0003] The fact that the ejection energy is small means that mechanical design is easy and there are sufficient merits for miniaturization. There is a disadvantage that the recording quality is easily deteriorated by the running speed of the carriage on which the head is mounted, the play, and other factors that affect the behavior of the head. In addition, when the flight energy is small, there is a disadvantage that when the flight path of the ink is lengthened, the dot formation point tends to vary, and the control range in which the recording quality can be maintained is narrowed.

Therefore, it is necessary to design an on-demand type ink jet recording apparatus so that the distance between the ink jet head and the recording medium is made as small as possible. In addition, in the ink jet recording apparatus, due to the property of ejecting ink, paper dust, dust, or ink unnecessary for recording adheres to the nozzle surface of the recording head, and nozzle clogging and ejection failure occur due to these causes, There was a case where a problem that normal recording could not be performed occurred. Therefore, in the conventional apparatus, it is necessary to provide a means for removing the adhered foreign matter or recovering the clogged head. Therefore, conventionally, there has been known a configuration in which a cleaning blade 2 as shown in FIG. 3 is provided in addition to a recovery function of bringing a cap into close contact with a recording head surface and sucking out discharged ink in the head. The blade 2 is made of an elastic material such as silicon rubber and is held by the holder 1. The blade # 2 is provided at a predetermined position in the scanning area of the ink jet head 6 via the holder 1 so that the tip of the blade 2 rubs the nozzle surface 4 of the ink jet head 6 to remove foreign matter according to the scanning of the ink jet head 6. It is.

[0005]

However, the ink jet recording apparatus having the recovery means has the following problems. In the recovery means, the cap is configured to be separated from the recording head surface during recording, and to be in close contact with the recording head surface during the recovery operation, and the blade is positioned at a predetermined position in the scanning area of the inkjet head to wipe the recording head surface. Is provided. When the cap moves and comes into close contact with the recording head surface, the blade needs to be separated from the moving area of the cap. For this reason, conventionally, there has been a problem that the device becomes large in order to largely retract the blade.

Conventionally, there has been a problem that ink droplets remain on the blade when the blade wipes the recording head surface, and the ink droplets scatter to the periphery during the wiping operation. Also,
If the ink remaining on the blade is left as it is, it dries and solidifies, deteriorating the cleaning ability, scratching the nozzle surface of the head, and causing printing defects such as deflection and missing dots.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned conventional problems, and has as its object to reduce the space for the recovery means, to make the apparatus smaller, to improve the cleaning ability of the blade, and to improve the nozzle face. It is an object of the present invention to provide an ink jet recording apparatus which prevents scratches and improves print quality.

[0008]

Accordingly, a first aspect of the present invention for solving the above-mentioned problem is to provide an ink jet head which changes the volume in an ink flow path and discharges the ink filled therein from a nozzle opening. And a blade for wiping the surface of the inkjet head having the nozzle openings,
A cap that comes into contact with the surface of the inkjet head having the nozzle opening and sucks ink inside the inkjet head through the nozzle opening, wherein the blade is provided inside the cap. There is provided an ink jet recording apparatus. A second aspect of the present invention is a first aspect.
In the above aspect, the height difference t between the blade and the cap is 1 mm ≦ t ≦ 3 mm.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the first or second aspect, the cleaning of the blade is performed by a suction operation of a cap.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the third aspect, the cap is sucked when the blade wipes the surface having the nozzle opening.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, there is provided an ink jet head recording apparatus according to any one of the first to fourth aspects, wherein an oil-based ink is used. In the present invention, as compared with the conventional method of disposing the blade outside the cap, since the blade is disposed in the cap, the area of the recovery means can be significantly reduced. As a result, the size and weight of the entire device can be reduced. The difference t between the height of the blade and the cap of the present invention is t <
In the case of 1 mm, there is a problem that the cap may hit the nozzle during cleaning of the nozzle surface by the blade, and the nozzle surface may be deteriorated. When t is greater than 3 mm,
When the cap is turned on, the blade may strongly hit the nozzle surface and deteriorate the nozzle surface, which is a problem. Therefore, the height difference t between the blade and the cap is 1 mm ≦ t ≦ 3
Desirably between mm.

Conventionally, ink was scattered around the recovery device during the cleaning operation of the nozzle surface because the blade was outside the cap.
Since the ink is placed in the cap, the ink can be stopped in the cap. Therefore, the periphery of the recovery device is not stained, thereby preventing the printed material from being stained and the recovery device from malfunctioning.

[0013] Also, since the blade is in the cap,
A suction system that is normally used for the suction operation of the ink in the recording head can be used to suck the ink attached to the blade. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the ink on the blade surface from drying and individualizing. In addition, this can prevent deterioration of the nozzle surface, and also prevent deterioration of print quality such as deflection and missing dots. Further, if the suction operation of the ink in the recording head is performed during the cleaning operation of the nozzle surface by the blade, the ink attached to the blade can be removed during the cleaning operation of the nozzle surface. Therefore, the ink can be removed before the ink solidifies, and the blade can be more effectively cleaned. Therefore, it is more desirable to perform the suction operation during the cleaning operation of the nozzle surface by the blade.

Further, since the blade is in the cap, the blade can be washed with the ink during the operation of the recovery means for sucking the ink in the recording head. Therefore, foreign matters other than ink adhering to the blade can be removed, and the blade can be more excellently cleaned. Further, when oil-based ink is used as the ink, the oil-based ink has a higher viscosity, so that the ink can be attached to the blade as compared with the aqueous ink. Therefore, removal of ink from the nozzle surface is more effective than other inks. Further, the blade of the present invention, which has both functions of cleaning the blade and collecting the ink, can exert its power particularly.

[0015]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, the present invention will be described based on embodiments of the present invention. (Embodiment 1) FIG. 1 shows a first embodiment of the present invention. The blade 2 is installed in the cap 3.
Reference numeral 6 denotes an on-demand type ink jet recording head having the nozzle 4 on the front surface. The ink jet recording head 6 performs recording scanning in the left and right directions in the figure.

In the above mechanism, when the head 6 is moved in the direction of the arrow as shown in FIG. 1D, paper dust, dust, or a large amount of ink is removed by the blade 2. . The removed ink falls into the cap 3 and is finally removed from the ink suction port 7 provided in the cap. In addition, when ink is sucked from the suction port 7 in the cap during the operation of the blade 2, not only the ink in the cap but also the ink attached to the blade 2 can be removed at the same time. Deterioration of the cleaning ability can be prevented. Further, during the ink suction operation of the cap as shown in FIG. 1B, the ink flows around the blade, so that the blade can be washed.

The height difference t (FIG. 2) between the blade and the cap in the embodiment of the present invention is 1.5 mm. Therefore, cleaning and cap-on can be performed without damaging the nozzle surface, and stable ejection can be performed for a long period of time.

[0018]

According to the present invention, when the blade is provided inside the cap which is the recovery means for sucking the ink in the ink jet recording apparatus, the area of the recovery means can be remarkably reduced. Further, since the blade is inside the cap, the blade can be cleaned using the suction operation provided on the cap. Therefore, effects such as prevention of deterioration of the cleaning ability of the blade, removal of foreign matter adhering to the blade, prevention of deterioration of the nozzle surface, prevention of deterioration of print quality, and the like can be obtained. Further, since the blade is inside the cap, the ink scattered during the cleaning operation of the nozzle surface by the blade can be stopped inside the cap. Therefore, it is possible to prevent dirt around the recovery device and prevent failure of the recovery device.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an inkjet head recording apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention. (a) is a perspective view of a cap with a blade, (b) is a plan view at the time of a suction operation, (c) is an explanatory perspective view during a cleaning operation by a blade, and (d) is a cleaning operation by a blade. FIG.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an inkjet head recording apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention. (A) is a top view showing height difference t of a blade and a cap.

FIG. 3 is a diagram of a conventional inkjet head recording apparatus. (a)
Is a perspective view of the blade, cap and head,
(b) is an explanatory plan view of the blade, cap and head,
(C) is an explanatory perspective view during the cleaning operation with the blade,
(D) It is explanatory plan view during cleaning operation | movement by a blade.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Holder 2 Blade 3 Cap 4 Nozzle surface 6 Ink jet recording head 7 Ink suction port

Claims (5)

[Claims] An ink jet head that changes a volume in an ink flow path and discharges ink filled therein from a nozzle opening; a blade that wipes a surface of the ink jet head having the nozzle opening; A cap that is in contact with the surface of the inkjet head having the nozzle opening and sucks ink inside the inkjet head through the nozzle opening, wherein the blade is provided inside the cap. An ink jet recording apparatus characterized by the above-mentioned. 2. The height difference t between the blade and the cap.
2. The ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein satisfies 1 mm ≦ t ≦ 3 mm. 3. The ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the cleaning of the blade is performed by a suction operation of a cap. 4. The ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 3, wherein when the blade wipes the surface having the nozzle opening, the suction operation of the cap is performed. 5. The ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein an oil-based ink is used.